CRM 2013 - What Does Disabling Auto Save Actually Do?

Paul Nieuwelaar, 21 July 2014

In Dynamics CRM 2013, by default auto save is enabled, which means changes to a form are automatically saved without the user having to click ‘Save’ or ‘Save & Close’ like you would have to in CRM 2011. We can turn auto save on or off in the System Settings, which will apply to all entities and all users.

With Auto Save disabled, form changes will no longer save automatically every 30 seconds. If you have custom plugins, JavaScript, or workflows running on save/update of a record, disabling auto save may be ideal to prevent logic from running at unwanted times.

When auto save is enabled, changes to an existing record are automatically saved when you navigate away from the form, or when you open a related record in the same window (if all required data is entered). However if you have rollup 2 or later, when auto save is disabled and you attempt to navigate away from a record that has changes, a prompt will be displayed indicating that there are unsaved changes on the webpage whether all required data has been entered or not. You can choose to ignore it and navigate away, losing the changes, or go back and save manually before navigating away. If you have rollup 1 or earlier, the changes will still be saved when auto save is disabled.

Note that from within the outlook client, users will be prompted to save changes (yes, no, cancel) when closing a record, however if they click through to a related record within the same window, the ‘changes have not been saved’ prompt will be displayed as above.

When auto save is disabled, additional ‘Save’, and ‘Save and Close’ buttons are added to the command bar on all entity forms. This is particularly nice for CRM 2011 users who are used to saving from the top of the form. Since changes are not saved automatically, clicking one of these save buttons (or the small one in the bottom corner) is the only way to save changes to a record.

Having auto save enabled is definitely recommended since most records open in the same window now, you want to make sure changes aren’t lost as users switch back for forth between records. However for the sake of keeping CRM 2011 users happy, disabling auto save may be a good solution.